Several initiatives have sought to address weaknesses in the Utrecht city region food system in recent years, at both the level of Utrecht Province and of Utrecht Municipality. With a new provincial vision in development, closer links will be forged between rural and urban areas over the next six years.   

Utrecht was one of seven pilot cities selected for the first phase of the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) programme, which ran from 2015 to 2018. For the CRFS project, Utrecht’s city region was determined as the ‘U10 region’ – ten neighbouring municipalities (since expanded to 16) that were already cooperating over in some policy areas. U10 forms part of Utrecht Province, made up of 26 municipalities.   

While the CRFS assessment identified a number of strengths in the Utrecht CRFS – such as generally good access to sufficient, affordable and safe food, and momentum towards integration of food into policies – a number of weaknesses were also highlighted. These included the relatively small size of the regional food economy and pressure from large-scale farming; few resource linkages between the city and more rural areas; and large differences in diet-related health issues among different social groups.  

Anne Luz Pijnenburg, Project Leader of the Food Agenda at Utrecht Province, confirmed that these weaknesses remain high on the food and agriculture policy agenda in the province. “There has been work to address these, and successes and failures in the years since 2018,” she said.  

In 2021, the province introduced its first three-year food policy, with a dual focus on enabling short food supply chains and providing more sustainable and healthy food for everyone in the region. Described as a ‘stimulation policy’, it provided a budget for activities to facilitate networking and promote local movements.  

While the 2021-2023 policy is currently under evaluation, a new policy is being prepared through a participatory process, including a vision up to 2030 and two shorter, three-year programmes to reach it.  

Strengthening short supply chains 

One innovation under the 2021-2023 policy was the recruitment of a ‘deal maker’ to promote short chains in public procurement by brokering an agreement between producers’ collectives, logistics partners, and food service locations – including canteens and hospitals. “These people recently signed an agreement to have more sustainable and healthy food from short chains. The partners also try to have more organic produce and reduce their food waste,” explained Pijnenburg. The agreement does not include school canteens, which fall under the responsibility of the municipalities.  

Another initiative was Lokaal Voedsel Utrecht (Local Food Utrecht), which originated from the EU-funded LEADER project but was supported by Utrecht Province. The initiative connected suppliers with buyers in the catering industry, healthcare institutions and supermarkets, through meet-ups, knowledge sharing, and brokering relationships. After two years, however, the province discontinued its support. “We wanted to give it back to the market,” Pijnenburg explained. While no organization came forward to take on the whole initiative, certain aspects, such as networking events, have continued.  

Building rural-urban linkages 

Other activities have focused on building stronger linkages between the city and rural areas. “What makes Utrecht Province different from almost all other provinces in the Netherlands is that the rural areas and city areas are quite close to each other. People in Utrecht go to parks and nearby natural areas, but that does not equal more knowledge on food,” Pijnenburg said.   

To help build this knowledge, the province has carried out educational projects, such as farm visits for children. It has also sought to inspire policy officers from municipalities to address food systems. “City municipalities like Utrecht have some food-related policies, but the rural municipalities are not really focused on food,” said Pijnenburg, adding that over the last two years there has been “a bit more interest”.   

Addressing health inequalities  

One area in which Utrecht Municipality is taking action is diet-related health inequalities. Jacintha Merts, Health Advisor for the municipality, is currently working with data analysts to produce a ‘heat map’ showing the location of food retailers in the city, and to test the hypothesis that there are more outlets and other retailers selling unhealthy food products in neighbourhoods with the highest populations in a vulnerable position.  

Together with the other signatory cities of the Dutch City Deal, Utrecht is exploring legal mechanisms for municipalities to promote a healthier and more sustainable food environment through the planning system. For example, neighbourhoods or streets could be scored on their food environment using a system developed by researchers  at the University of Amsterdam on behalf of the City Deal. “If there is a new food retailer who brings that score down, or which doesn’t improve the score, you could say ‘we don’t want you here’ and refuse them,” said Merts.  

Obtaining the powers to do this will, however, require considerable advocacy and amenable political climate at the national level. “It could result in some legal challenges,” said Merts.  

Picture credits: Province of Utrecht